AOA sorry for poor history knowledge

/Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

Seolhyun and Jimin from K-pop girl band AOA have apologized after sparking a national controversy over their poor history knowledge.

The controversial moment came during Tuesday’s episode of variety show “Channel AOA” on cable network Onstyle. The two stars failed to recognize a picture of Ahn Jung-geun, a freedom fighter who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese resident-general of Korea, in 1909, before Japan's colonization.

The event sparked massive criticism from the public with numerous netizens pointing out the two stars’ immature historical consciousness.

The controversy still rages, despite the stars’ apologies on Instagram Friday.

“I regret not showing a sincere attitude towards our history as a Korean citizen, even though I should have,” Seolhyun wrote. “I am ashamed of the incident and apologize from the bottom of my heart to all the viewers who felt uncomfortable.”

Jimin said: “I apologize to all viewers who felt discomforted by my light attitude. As a public figure, I should have forgone such an attitude on the media.”

Onstyle has erased all footage of the episode after fierce public criticism.